Fell pony  breed information

www.FellponyInfo.com (Home)

(previously Fellpony.com)

Where Do We Go from Here?

By Sue Millard - Cumbria, England (adapted from a talk given at “British Rare Breeds on Parade” Kentucky Horse Park, USA – June 2003)" - Published in the Fell Pony Journal and reprinted by permission of the editor and author

All text & cartoon artwork ©copyright Sue Millard

Where are we now?

American enthusiasts have imported British horse and pony breeds for many years, even centuries…. Welsh, Dartmoors, Fells, Suffolks, the Cleveland Bay.  Some have been bred together as a population, and some have vanished into the wider equine universe leaving barely a mark.  This article will concentrate on those breeds that have a presence in America now, in particular, those that the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and the Equus Survival Trust call rare or endangered. 

 For equines, being a rare ALBC breed means:

*   there are fewer than 1,000 annual North American registrations

*   and fewer than 5,000 individuals globally.  

For the British Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) and the Equus Survival Trust, the criterion for rarity or endangered is “fewer than 500 breeding females”.

 A “Breed” is defined as a group of animals which:

·         are physically alike and distinct from others of the same species,

·         and when you breed them together, they predictably reproduce the type.

I’m going to refer mainly to ponies although of course many of my comments will apply equally to horse breeds, purely because I am more versed in the pony breeds.  Let me also say that I am going to speak mainly as an interested onlooker. I’m not “an expert”. I’m an informed enthusiast and I’m lucky enough to live amongst Fell ponies in Northern England and be allowed to judge them.

A good example of a native pony should tell us, just by looking at it, what kind of life its ancestors led: Exacting work requirements and tough environments.  A well-built body is the first requirement. Good teeth for rough grazing, a well designed coat that sheds rain. Hoofs that take the wear of rough terrain. You can see all these.  But Native ponies have other qualities: an even, sensible temperament; hardiness, vigour, self reliance and brains. These are vital to the breed, but they are not visible. They’re the inner pony, the bits that you only get to know by doing the job and living the life.  These invisible characteristics can’t be retained without giving the pony a job of work to do and, if possible, allowing it to live and reproduce as its ancestors did and still do.

Cause and effect

As circumstances, environments and fashions change, animal breeds change too. Change is the road ahead. Those who don’t adapt, die out.

If humans change the original purpose of a native pony, the basic “tough” but invisible qualities of the breed can be lost. If the purpose is changed to suit whims of the market about the “looks” of the breed, those tough invisible qualities WILL be lost.

  Human preferences – fashions – not only take a breed away from its native appearance but they destroy some of its survival characteristics. An Arab-Exmoor cross turned out on Exmoor to breed would not thrive or do well enough to make an appreciable mark on the type of pony living successfully there. But an Arab-Exmoor living in a stable can be looked after so well that a lack of hardiness and toughness will never be tested. Because we take care of our horses and ponies, human influence can now be much stronger than nature.

Nature gave native ponies hair direction and whorls to direct water away from more delicate areas of the body:

*  tail set so as to keep the “naughty” bits dry; 

*  small ears that don’t lose heat, because they’re buried in mane; 

*  large nasal structures to warm cold air before it gets into the main body cavity;

*  projecting above-the-eye “protection” from rain;

*  general insulating hairiness;

*  hard, even teeth to grind coarse food, and a broad jaw to house them;

*  a big belly to store that coarse food while it’s being digested

Nature took thousands of years to shape the native breeds. However, they have changed more in the last century through man’s experiments than they ever changed before. ¹

 Native breeds at risk from change

Where we are now is that there are British native breeds here in America. Some have more or fewer individuals.  The native breeds considered rare by ALBC standards are all at a greater risk of being changed because their populations are small.  Remember: fewer than 1,000 annual North American registrations and fewer than 5,000 individuals globally.

If we have the interests of these native horses and ponies at heart, it’s up to people like us to make sure that change, if it occurs at all, is for the better.

Where do we want to get to?

What do we want our horse and pony breeds to become as we trot along the road to the future?

To begin with, there are three areas we might look at:

·          the breed type

·          excellence of conformation

·          excellence at doing the work

What do these requirements mean?

If we look at the breed type – the motherland’s breed standards usually just describe what is a visibly “good average type” for that breed. What makes a Fell look like a Fell and not like a Dales or a Dartmoor? What makes a Shire look different from a Clydesdale or a Suffolk? That’s breed type.

If we look at excellence of conformation – the show ring requires visible “standards of excellence” on top of that breed type.

If we look at excellence at doing the work – I mean this to be “good at” whatever the job may be, that the breed is an all-purpose, versatile good-tempered farming animal. It could be a cantankerous little survivor out on the fell. These qualities are invisible; they are only discovered by the animal doing the work, and by the owner living with the breed.

 Now these qualities may not all be found in the same animal! So which do we give preference to?

What are the qualities we desire in the population?

*  How do we choose breeding stock for the next generation?

*  What’s the purpose of our breeding?

*  Who should set the standards?

A responsible breeder will have a plan. This is one of your signposts along the road.

Taking action and taking no action are both steps along the road to the future – but it will not be the same road to the same future.   

“If you don’t know where you want to go,

any road will take you there.”

 What are you breeding for?

I’m assuming in this basic question that you have a mare. Maybe you have more than one mare. You have invested cash and time in this member of your chosen breed and you enjoy owning her. You’re committed.  Why do you want to breed a foal from her? Of course there are many answers. No answer is intrinsically right or wrong. You just need to be clear which answer is yours and what consequences arise from the choices you make.  

A foal for your own use

You may want: A foal just for your own use — maybe you have a sport or leisure purpose for the offspring. You may just breed for the interest of breeding something, anything — from your mare — you need not breed pure or register it, and possibly you may never breed another. After all, horses live long.

Fine. If the animal’s going to be Family no matter what, it doesn’t matter what you breed – unless of course you aim to breed from it in its turn or sell it to allow others to breed from it. I’ll say more about that later, but for now let’s assume that a generally good average sort is enough for you. So, perfection of shape is not so important as it would be if the foal was destined for the show ring or the breeding shed. The visible qualities don’t matter too much. But what about those invisible ones like temperament?  

A foal to perpetuate a good bloodline

You may want: A foal to perpetuate a good bloodline. So what is good about that bloodline? Performance, beauty, rarity, temperament, hardiness, vigour? You need to know what is good in order to choose a stallion that will match that quality and not dilute it. Equally, you need to avoid carrying on or bringing in poor qualities that might degrade future generations.

When breeds are rare, for whatever reason, the difficulty is to preserve genetic variation without losing the breed altogether. Perpetuating a good line may not always produce show-winning animals; but you do want to breed something visibly true to type; something that looks like the breed standard, and that has those invisible qualities that equate to doing the work of that breed.          

A foal to sell, to recoup expenses

You may want: a foal to sell, to get back your initial outlay, or just to make a profit. This is a big problem when breeds have been imported to a new country. Expense gives any imported animal a “cost” value that may be out of proportion to its breed value.

It’s tempting to breed from an imported animal in order to cover your initial outlay. It’s very tempting indeed to use the nearest stallion of that breed or the one that is best known or advertised. Of course, you can breed any number of foals that will sell on “purebred” status alone. That doesn’t guarantee a good foal with value to the breed. Ask yourself, “Do I want to sell just the visible, or propagate the invisible qualities of my breed as well?”  

Dangers of fast expansion of ownership of a breed

We saw this bubble happen in America with Arabian horses in the 1980s. Their value escalated from an average of three thousand dollars to fifteen thousand dollars to, in some cases, a quarter of a million.  It ruined the quality of the Arabian breed while it lasted because too many people weren't breeders - just businessmen. When the bottom dropped out the horses went overnight from being worth a quarter of a million on mortality insurance policies back to twenty thousand or less.  Who survived it?  The breeders who ignored the fashion and continued with their long range plans.  Their horses still sold, albeit for smaller sums throughout, the marketing remained much the same and their quality never bore the marks of “get rich quick at any price”.

I know there are such trendy people who “breed rare breeds”. “Production Breeders” rather than breeders. “Production Breeders” often go into rare breeds in order to become big fish relatively quickly. They can see that the rare breed pond is a small one. They may express high sounding ideals. They can be very convincing.  In time it becomes apparent they can see only the bottom line of the balance sheet, no matter how many statements they make about their stock. “Production Breeders” generally sell all their youngstock – well before their physical potential can be evaluated.  You don’t know if sire and dam are a “good nick” until the foal is growing up.  But these foals are contracted to buyers sometimes before they hit the straw, so even a good one is unlikely to be kept by the breeder. If nothing is kept at home to further the line, there is nothing to provide future sires and dams, for strategic linebreeding or line crossing. Of course it seems to make better sense to sell foals at weaning, because until such time as they are old enough to breed themselves or train, the increase in their sale value per year to maturity does not offset the cost of keeping them.  And since most natives mature late, they just take up space and food for three to five years.

If you keep your progeny till they are four or five and sell them as broken stock, you can ask higher prices, but by then, you only have room to keep one or two mares because of all their progeny. Native ponies are cheap to feed, but it will take some very good sales of very well trained ponies to cover five years’ costs.

If you’re a breeder who chooses to keep progeny to adulthood, to evaluate their potential as breeding or riding or driving stock – then you are certainly doing it for love, not money. You’re laying out capital that won’t give you a return, even if you’re lucky, till five, maybe six years’ time when your first foals are out in the world, well trained, and showing their quality. And you’ll have to wait even longer before your reputation brings in serious money.  

If that’s how you work, then I salute you. You are the salt of the earth. You know that the market really wants a made, sound, fit, ready-to-ride horse or pony; not a tender weanling or a green broke three year old. You’re ready to stand some initial figures in the red to get to the point where you have that product ready to sell.

Yes, there are buyers out there who realise that time and work equal money, and are willing to pay for the right product of the right age. But there are far more who would rather buy a youngster because it’s cheaper and they look SO sweet and they can have one RIGHT NOW. And there are breeders who, despite saying they support their breed, are just taking those buyers for all they can get.

Selling every foal makes problems for the owners. 

For a start there will be wastage among the animals that are sold as youngsters. It is skilled work rearing youngstock to adulthood without spoiling their tempers. A spoilt pony is a menace, no matter how expensive it was to buy.  

It is also hugely tempting to start serious work with a young pony that looks mature compared to other breeds — say Thoroughbreds. Part of this is their body type, less leggy and much broader. Natives in fact mature slowly. They are not usefully mature until they are over five and some not until they are seven or even older. If you train them as though they are mature you will of course ruin their legs and backs. They will live and work honestly to a great age if they are given time, but not everyone has the patience or money to give them that time. The guy who keeps many mares and sells every foal may be ahead in the money stakes, but he’s selling hopes and dreams.  How can he promise what you’ll have when it’s grown if he’s never kept any himself?

Selling every foal makes problems for the breed

Selling every foal you produce disperses stock into the general population without any strategy; and as a practice it certainly can’t claim to provide support for a breed. It’s exploitation, not conservation. It isn’t until you choose to keep some of your best foals for future breeding that you climb up that important step from being a producer, who just produces any foal, with any bloodlines, so long as it is healthy enough to sell.

A foal to represent and to help preserve a breed.

So, we will assume that you are on the side of the angels. You love your breed, you don’t mind the initial outlay and the delay in taking your profit. You want: A foal to represent a breed and to help preserve it

What are the qualities of your breed that are important? How do you know what they are when you live so far away that there is a major ocean and half a continent between you and its natural home?

I’m going to be briefly cynical here. Those who claim to be preserving a rare breed may not in fact be doing so. I am using the word Preserve rather than Conserve advisedly. Be forewarned of the dangers of the mere “preservation” of a breed.  They may become objects whose purpose and inner integrity has been eroded. Don’t preserve them so well them that they become museum pieces instead of useful partners.

The marketplace in 50 years time?

Where will our exported British Native ponies be in the marketplace in fifty years’ time?

Will they still have any purpose, any integrity as individual breeds? What will their cash value be fifty years down the line? I wonder… I worry about the payment of lip service to the idea of “preserving” of a rare breed of horses or ponies. For instance, David Attenborough observed the making of Stone Age type axes in New Guinea in the mid 20^th Century, which looked good but were purely ornamental and not fit for any use. I worry that a “preserved” breed with no working purpose may become equally useless.  

Financial considerations

A breeder may be strongly influenced by financial considerations in what he breeds and how he presents it. For instance, if Fell ponies were to sell better with their feather clipped off, and if the lighter sorts sold better than more drafty sorts, then in that area, for that market, the Fell breed becomes a lighter sport pony with less feather. The man who sticks with breeding the more true-to-type mountain pony may make very few sales. 

Breeding for fashion

Breeding to satisfy a whimsical commercial market is very likely to lose breed type and integrity. It will dilute those invisible native qualities such as toughness, vigour, hardiness and sound temper. Sometimes fashion marketing goes as far as promoting a breed under false pretences, such as claiming links to other popular but unrelated breeds. Then the integrity of the breed is compromised – to say nothing of Joe Public’s perceptions about the commercial integrity of its breeders.

If a breed finds it doesn’t have a practical working purpose any more, then should we perhaps impose strict guidelines on its production? Or should we invent a new working purpose for it? If we don’t do something it will very likely change for the worse, or even die out.  

A foal to improve the breed.

Well, the final scenario I want to put to you is that you may want: A foal to improve your breed. That’s no mean requirement. It’s far tougher than breeding a foal to conserve the breed.  

You still need to know the breed’s qualities thoroughly or you can’t know what needs improvement. Only then can you know what could be improved for the sake of the breed and more importantly what should be left exactly as it is.  You have to keep in your mind’s eye the visible breed type of its motherland and not be deflected by the demands of the market.

You should hope to produce animals whose type is always good - animals that are good representatives of the breed. Some will have conformation, manners and intelligence that are so outstanding that they will win in the show ring.

But don’t lose sight of the goal – that all of them should be capable of doing the job they are bred for and of living naturally and hardily without the need for constant human interference. Those invisible qualities need to be allowed to assert themselves in your stock. That may involve allowing weaknesses to reveal themselves, and sometimes it may mean not breeding from animals that have them. That’s a very “tough” way to love your breed.

This kind of stewardship programme may also only bring a modest financial reward – but it brings with it a longer-term bonus of immense satisfaction. It’s a huge challenge! Can you do it? Can you keep all those inner qualities as well as the outer, visible ones?

How do we choose our road for survival in the marketplace?

*  closed stud book? 

*  performance testing? 

*  a collection of first prizes at shows?  

1.  A closed stud book is limited to animals whose pedigrees we can trace in the mother stud book. We breed from that stock and not from any other.

Is that ALONE sufficient to approve an animal for breeding? What if they aren’t excellent types of their kind? What if they have physical or temperamental defects, or a genetic disorder? Are there extenuating circumstances where even so, we might usefully breed from these animals for the good of the breed?

2. If we go down the road of Performance testing — then the only animals that may be licensed to breed are pedigreed stock whose minds and bodies can be shown as fit for the tasks we consider suitable and necessary. But with a small group of breeding individuals, can we be that strict?                                                                

And anyway, is the gathering of performance points a good guide to the invisible hardiness and survival qualities of a breed?   And what about the ribbons and prizes themselves?  Was it a major show?  Was the class full or did the 1^st prize go to a pony with only one challenger?  Was the show full of quality or mediocre?  What each ribbon means must be qualified against such things or a string of wins becomes dangerously distorted.  

There are always some animals whose bloodlines we ought to preserve simply from the standpoint of genetic diversity. There’s also that indefinable quality, toughness – it’s often unrelated to speed, jumping ability, trotting action, or whatever. It’s a determination to survive.  By contrast, breeding for any unique goal such as speed or colour or hair or any other visible cosmetic quality can do great harm to the majority of a breed. 

The duty of the judge

There can be fashions in judging breed classes. This opens up another area of responsibility – mine – the duty of the judge!

If breeding stock is selected ONLY on show points, then over several generations, the stock can change either inwardly or outwardly. Some breeds have certainly done so.  

For example, the Arabian – at least in British circles in the 70s and 80s. Show bred animals were only ever shown in halter classes. They gained in value by winning classes, they were bred, and their offspring were again shown in halter classes. By the third and fourth generations there were serious temperamental defects in some lines, but they were not displayed until a 3rd or 4th generation horse was bought to be trained for riding and put into a truly working environment. At that point accidents happened. Serious riders dismissed the Arabian breed for nearly ten years as flighty and weedy. In defence of the judges, it wasn’t their fault that these animals were not tested in real work.

It wasn’t until sound, sensible strains of Arabians were pointed to the discipline of endurance work that the good points of the breed were appreciated once more and the balance began to right itself.  

Show results can have different values

Can you grade show results? Is the winner of a first prize at the local Little Puddleworth (East) of equal value with a first prize winner at the prestigious Royal Agricultural?

Show achievements can depend on so much that is circumstantial! Like how far can the owner afford to travel and how much time can he spend showing? How many quality animals of that breed were in the class? Was the judge competent in judging that breed? Did she owe someone a favor?  Did she have an interest behind the scenes?  So don’t be too keen to admire a potential sire or dam purely for “how many” first ribbons it has won. And don’t forget, the judge may not be looking for the invisible qualities………  

So what is the role of the show judge in preserving breed characteristics?

Is it possible for a judge to preserve those invisible breed qualities as well as the visible ones?  

I believe that judges must be a target for education – their need to know and keep learning is at least equal to that of breeders. Judges need to know the breed standard of the mother stud book, and they need to be strong enough to make decisions in the ring that reflect whether the exhibits are representative of that standard. If your judges don’t hold the breed to the standard, your American version of it is very likely to change from the breed in its homeland. It’s hard to uphold a standard if the judging fraternity doesn’t know what the standard should be and doesn’t reward it when it sees it.  

Breeding for outward appearance can breed “in” unseen problems, often of unstable temper, or lack of toughness. If you introduce rules to breed out white markings, or to breed out every colour but the one that is preferred, the gene pool narrows and you reduce the breeder’s options.

Fashion breeding is particularly dangerous.  If the current trend is all sleek and petite, it could spell disaster for breeds that do not fit the profile.  EG - breeding for exaggeratedly fine muzzles will reduce the native pony’s space for sound teeth and powerful jaws. Lighter legs and smaller feet don’t stand up to the work of transporting the normally robust body mass of a native pony. Exmoors have steeper sloped quarters than – say – a modern Welsh Section A. That is part of their type. There are advantages in that conformation for the rainy environment in which they live.

Native ponies have to be survivors first and “pretty” second. But judges who don’t appreciate the needs of a native will not know how to place the true-to-type pony. The type as a whole can be pressured to change to something that looks “better” but would not survive in the original environment.  

The first job of a native horse or pony judge is to pick the animal that is true to its type in its home area:

*  that can live as the breed does under normal circumstances; 

*  that is built right to work well and stay sound;

*  that has the invisible, inner qualities that are vital as well as the outer ones that are less so; 

*  hair type; 

*  height; 

Only AFTER that can a judge apply other criteria such as color, quantity of feather, mane length, or white markings.

Judging Globally distributed populations

So, we have breed populations that are spread thinly over a huge continent. Judges from breed societies overseas are not going to be as frequently invited to judge as more local judges. That’s purely on the grounds of cost and accessibility. There’s going to be a natural tendency for show results to reflect the types that the local area finds appealing. If your local area is educated on Saddlebreds or Thoroughbreds, the type of British native may well be chosen, bred and produced to look similar to those.

Unconscious choices

Immersion in breed type to overcome inadvertent bias

It will take a great deal of interest, conscious training and “immersion in breed type” to overcome such inadvertent bias. Everyone naturally thinks their own ponies are the best! And especially their own home bred ponies!

Groups involved with a breed should NOT work in isolation  

·          The breeders in the home country who have the experience must share it with the newcomers.

·          The newcomers must adopt the beliefs and standards of the original breeders. That doesn’t mean they can’t tactfully point out possible new avenues that the breed might explore!

·          Judges must be trained in the standards of the breed and keep to them

·          And there needs to be a workable, co-operative breeding programme or it is all being left to chance and the breed may well die out. 

How do we avoid dead ends?

Yes, there are signposts that lead to dead ends. Possible dead ends can fall under “Neglect of paperwork” – such as not registering a foal within given deadlines. Like the Fell ponies that E P Taylor imported into Canada in the 1950s. If there are any progeny in North America whose sire or grandsire was Johnny Walker, they are unregistered with the Fell Pony Society and hence are unavailable for breeding with others that ARE registered. So, if you didn’t fill in the right forms at the right time…. remember that a purebred foal from a closed herd book, which for any reason doesn’t have breed papers, will not be able to contribute to the maintenance of its breed.

Artificial Insemination and Embryo transfer have even more potential as dead ends through paperwork. If you and possibly the buyer of the foal can work out how to get through the regulations for your chosen breed, then I take my hat off to you. Some societies have very strict rules for registration of foals from AI.

Also some breed societies don’t even allow Embryo transfer. I’ll state here quite plainly that I support that view. I’m not a fan of either AI or ET, for native animals. I think normal matings and normal births are essential risks to test the toughness of the breeds. If we interfere too much in normal systems, we may perpetuate a weakness that would compromise the survival of our animals if we stopped looking after them. Thankfully none of our British rare natives are so rare that such drastic measures are our only option.  

Here’s an example. How many of you eat turkey at Thanksgiving? Most of you I expect. Did you know that the broad breasted turkey can’t reproduce any more without human help? The birds are so heavily built now through constant selection for weight and size and breast muscle that the jocks can’t do their job naturally any more. The next generation HAS to be produced by AI. OK, there are lots of them (on turkey farms) but if tastes were to change – say everyone turned vegetarian and the turkeys were chucked out into the wild – the broad breasted strain would just vanish. We don’t want to be responsible for turning any of our native breeds into a “turkey.”

If you do promote your breed by showing your stock, don’t over produce them. Native ponies are supposed to be the easy care option. Let them be natural.  Equally, don’t allow anyone to get hold of the idea that British natives are something so special that they can only live in a highly protected pasture and be handled or bred by special methods and produce expensive, exclusive foals.

Positive signposts: Train and have fun!

One of the great assets to any breed is a large number of single-pony or single-horse owners who simply take their animals to have fun in public. Surplus stock can go on to be useful pets or performers in active but “non-breeding” homes. A gelding or a geld mare can then be as great an ambassador for the breed as a breeding mare or stallion though their genetic input is nil.

For heaven’s sake, train them, use them, ride them, drive them; if you need to, plough with them; and go out and have fun with your native ponies! A British native pony should be an easy care option, a “non iron drip dry” ride.

Educate – and Go Easy on the fantasy

Of course, potential owners who haven’t really met your breed will need to be educated. Hype can sell anything, but you don’t do your breed a service by extending the truth. Yes, you can spin fairy tales about horses with flowing locks but you must tell them the reality as well. Both the fantasy and reality should be given their true values.

Future owners need to be educated honestly – to be reminded that a “sensible furry pony” is not a “docile furry teddy bear”. The mental energy of a British native, especially a native pony, can be considerable. He needs to be used. You need to tell your potential buyers about that. A good pony should be worth far more to a family than the excitement value of a dirt bike or a skateboard, and the cost of his upkeep should be discounted against his character building qualities!

I’ll say it again! Train him and go out and use him and show your potential owners that they can have fun too.

Honest education and promotion

That’s what I mean by honest education and promotion of a breed. Yes, promotion by enthusiasts is important. But it must be done with care. It is misleading – for instance – to promote a breed by association with another; deliberately to compare Fell or Dales ponies to Friesians, Haflingers to Belgians, or Morgans to Saddlebreds. It may be good for sales to attract the attention of people … but then perhaps they should actually looking for an entirely different breed. Don’t sell out the integrity and future of your breed type riding another breed’s coattails. Be honest, and avoid hype.

Is it good for a breed to be endorsed by someone famous?

That depends upon their credentials.  Are they versed in their breed?  An expert in their own right?  If not, their fame is not likely to bring our breed staunch new support – only groupies – the “I want one because ‘they’ have one” crowd... I would rather see someone buy and use a pony because they like the qualities of that pony than because the Queen of England happens to own one. The cachet of famous ownership may work in advertising marmalade, but I am not convinced it is a valid reason for ownership of a live animal.  

The wider view

One has to be realistic, which is why I’ve outlined the differing goals of breeders. “Production Breeders” for profit are not going to see eye to eye with conservationists, or even the backyard/hobby breeders. The aims of the “improvers” may not be the same as any of them. Some “Production Breeders” will not care about recognising British breed type, or excellence of conformation, or varied genetic makeup, or the invisible inside of the pony that makes it a typical British Native.  

Is there a central body responsible overall?

Can it guide and unify breed supporters and represent them? In such a large country it is inevitable that there will be break-ups within groups who claim to support any given breed. It’s partly due to geographical distance, partly to personal preferences.  

The Experts …The mother country’s own breed society

It seems to me that the first resource has GOT to be the mother country’s own breed society. Where else can you tap into the collective knowledge of the breed?  The mother breed society will have numerous mentor breeders.  Take advantage of them!

Be prepared to sit humbly in the student chair and learn. A new breeder has not earned the right to chime in with preconceptions about their chosen breed. Going it alone will not help your rare breed.  Receiving mentoring doesn’t have to be painful! It can be a useful two-way exchange of ideas. Sometimes the questions from the newcomer illuminate concepts that the mother society has not even considered. But it may get uncomfortable if the newcomer tries to impose the standards of his own uninformed perception, or behaves in ways that force the breed to adopt activities or courses of action that are currently frowned upon.

As a new breeder you’ve got to remain open to advice or instruction from the mother society. Splits in the support mechanisms and networks for a horse breed occur far too frequently. They’re often unintentional – perhaps even accidental – and they can go on forever because of hurt pride, stubborn personal opinions, or more often what Somerville and Ross ² described as “obstinate greed and infinite leisure”. But as ALBC is quick to point out, splits between breeders and their mother society are very detrimental to the future health of a breed overseas:  

Marjorie Bender of ALBC has written that: “Imported populations to North America are particularly subject to conservation problems.  They have a history of becoming orphaned from their primary populations. The result – conservation is undermined as important breeding stock is "lost" from the global population. It has, therefore, become increasingly clear to ALBC that for imported breeds reciprocity with the mother registry is critical.”

So to support a rare breed, mare ownership and foal production are not enough. To breed to conserve a breed, you have got to have a good grounding in its purposes, its nature, the whole ethos of the breed you have fallen in love with. And you have to get along with other owners around you and with the registry in its home country.  

Slow down – be patient

Something I also think I ought to say here as a Brit to the American horse breeder is, “Slow down – be patient. Take the longer view.”

First, understand that many of your breed societies in Britain are run by a very few staff – they are not big organisations. Think of them as your repositories for breed information. Trust their expertise. I have to admit their administration can be a bit variable even by British standards! Try not to hassle them if by your standards they are slow. Remember that they are run with dedication, often by volunteers, for the good of their breed.  

ALBC recommends breeding strategies that will preserve genetic diversity.   My ALBC copy of Sponenberg and Christman’s “A Conservation Breeding Handbook” is falling apart from use, and I don’t even breed………. So I do know that ALBC can and will advise on breeding strategies for conservation. BUT it cannot possibly legislate for the politics and the internal stresses generated by groups of competing owners with differing aims.  

Get people together in the same place, at events where everyone is assumed to have the best interests of their breed at heart! Bigger or smaller events, it doesn’t matter. The glitz is not the breed. The horses and ponies and the owners are the breed.  

Breeder’s co-operatives

“Breeders” = those who keep young stock replacements

Your fillies are the mainstay of your herd and its type. It’s your mares who represent your breed, not your stallions... mares make a far greater contribution than is often acknowledged. Maintenance and support of a breed cannot include selling all your foals year after year. The maintenance pattern certainly excludes advertising foals for sale from before their conception.

The Road Forward: learn from your mother breed society

The road forward that I would choose is sign posted like this:

I would urge all stewards of rare breed livestock to learn as much as they can from their mother breed society. Learn and act in accordance with the rules of the breed society and take the advice of its experienced breeders.

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, British Rare Breed Survival Trust, and the Equus Survival Trust 

Conservation organisations such as ALBC, and their British counterpart RBST, and the Equus Survival Trust have, quite literally, a vital role to play in helping breeds to survive. An appreciation of their advice is important.   

The Conservation Organizations’ roles:

*  they share information about breeds with the inquiring public.

*  they direct the inquiring public to identified breed contacts.

*  they help breeders understand breeding for conservation

 The Breed Association’s, Registries’, and Networks’ roles:

*  they conserve the genetic diversity and integrity of the breed.

*  they promote their breed honestly to the public.

*  they hold their breeders to a high level of ethical conduct to protect their breed’s reputation and they enhance the potential for constructive conservation of the breed.

The aim is to have a broad enough gene pool, and enough good, typical, healthy individuals, for a breed no longer to need to be on the ALBC/RBST/Trust list. If you hope to be a good steward, you need to be committed to selective and rational breeding strategies and to high standards of behaviour in relation to your breed.

To be a breeder of a rare breed is both a great responsibility and a great reward

You, who are Breeders of British Native horses and ponies, have quite a task in front of you.

I hope this article has helped you to appreciate the types we like in Britain, and to understand why we like them.  Let me summarise the signposts to the future. They come in three varieties – those you must follow; those you should follow; and those you could follow to make your stewardship rewarding.

The first three “Musts” are these:

¨        You MUST conserve your breed type – whatever makes your breed true to itself and distinct from other horses or ponies

¨        You MUST conserve healthy genetic diversity within your breed type  

¨        You MUST conserve your breed’s “excellence at doing its work” – a sound body and a sound mind  

The three “Shoulds” are these:

¨        You SHOULD enjoy your ownership and share your enjoyment with other people.

¨        You SHOULD be proud of your choice of breed and humble in your stewardship.

¨        You SHOULD use and promote your rare horses and ponies as honestly as you can.  

Now, just one “Could” – but it’s a big one………..

¨        You could nurture your breed’s diversity, so well, that the American gene pool could be a potential breeding resource for Britain.

There’s one last point to be made – I’ve adapted it from an old saying that I have heard and read in the context of farming, forestry and gardening and many other nurturing pursuits.  

¨        Love your horses as though you were going to die tomorrow. Breed them as though you were going to live forever. And good luck!

¹   Clive Richardson, a talk at the Kentucky Horse Park, USA, British Rare Breeds on Parade, June 2003

 ² “The Irish R.M.” - a collection of short stories by E. Somerville and Martin Ross

Editor’s Notes: Sue Millard became involved with Fell ponies over 30 years ago when working with a trekking string in the North of the Lake District. Formerly a harness maker, Sue is now a lecturer in Multimedia Computing at the University of Central Lancashire. She has been a member of the Fell Pony Society for 20 years, judges Fells & carriage driving, is a Council member and chairs the Overseas Sub Committee of the FPS.

Sue is also a writer, artist and craftswoman in both physical and virtual media. Her past books include “One Fell Swoop” – an informational book about Fell ponies and their history and "Hoofprints in Eden"  a new book, examining the background and traditions of the Fell pony in its homeland.

Sue is also the webmaster and researcher of the on-line Fell Pony Museum, a very in-depth, educational, and yet entertaining site which can be viewed at www.fellpony.f9.co.uk. She lives in the beautiful Lake District of England with her Fell pony, one very able and active sheep dog, and her (long- suffering) husband.

The “Equus Survival Trust”  can be reached at 0844 Highway 172, West Liberty, Kentucky 41472 USA, www.Equus-Survival-Trust.org

 “British Rare Breeds on Parade” – more information on this past conservational/educational event can be found at www.Fellpony.org

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy can be reached at P.O. Box 477, Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312 USA, Telephone:  (919) 542-5704, Fax:  (919) 545-0022, www.albc-usa.org

Home
Conservation in the 21st Century
"Fell History" by Sue Millard
Where do We Go From Here? - S. Millard
What is a Fell pony?
Not a Friesian
Miracles of Survival
Conservancy Press Release
FPS Liaison Resignation
Horse Sense - pony with a purpose
Fell pony; ALBC Conservation Priority List
Fell pony Temperament and Maturity
Beatrix Potter - Fairy Caravan
NA Fell pony History & Liaison Intro
Equine Bovine Mag
Fell Convention UK - Equine Journal
SE Equine Monthly
Fell Pony Journal
The Reach
Horsemens Yankee Pedlar
Rare Breeds Journal
Merlin at Kentucky Horse Park
ALBC
Rural Heritage